Livonia is a city in the northwest part of Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. Livonia is a very large suburb with an array of traditional neighborhoods (most of which were built in the 1950s and 1960s) connected to the metropolitan area by freeways. The population was 96,942 at the 2010 census, making it Michigan's 9th largest municipality.[3] The municipality is a part of Metro Detroit, and located approximately 13 miles (21 km) northwest from downtown Detroit, and less than two miles (3 km) from the western city limits of Detroit (Redford Township lies in between the two).

Livonia was incorporated into a city on May 23, 1950, by vote of the citizens of the township. A significant motivation was to gain tax revenues from the DRC (Detroit Race Course), which was Michigan's only thoroughbred horse racetrack that closed in 1998.

Economy

In addition to its schools, colleges, churches, parks, recreation center, libraries, and St. Mary Mercy Hospital, Livonia also has commercial and industrial sectors, restaurants, and shopping. Laurel Park Place, an upscale fashion mall with 74 stores, is located at 6 Mile Road and Newburgh Road. Parisian and Von Maur department stores serve as anchors. Livonia has a number of shopping centers, including two Wal-Mart Supercenters, two Target stores, one Meijer store, two Costco stores, and many other smaller stores. Wonderland Village features a Wal-Mart Supercenter, a Target store, and three islands of retail buildings along Plymouth Road and Middlebelt Road. Sears and Walmart anchor the Livonia Marketplace.

Livonia is home to the Livonia Hockey Association, the largest amateur hockey association in Michigan, Home of two time state champions the Livonia Knights, and the city also boasts one of the largest soccer programs (Livonia City Soccer Club) in the state, with 1,300 participants.

Primary and secondary schools

Most of the City of Livonia is served by the Livonia Public Schools District, consisting of two Early Childhood Centers, 13 elementary schools, four Upper Elementary Schools, three middle schools, three high schools, and one Career Center. Since the 1960s, the district has consistently been ranked in the top 5 school districts statewide. The district also serves students in portions of Westland. There is, however, a portion of northeast Livonia that is served by the Clarenceville School District.

Each Livonia Public Schools high school offers a different educational program. Stevenson High School is the home of the school of Global Education, an alternative education model which combines students' English and Social Studies classes with a focus on the student's role in the world. Churchill houses the MSC program, (Math, Science, and Computers). Franklin currently offers an International Baccalaureate program for select students.

Frost Middle School houses the Middle Alternative Classrooms for the Academically Talented (MACAT) program. The public K-6 Webster Elementary School is home to the Alternative Classes for the Academically Talented (ACAT) program, as well as many afterschool programs. Webster has classess for disabled children as well. The school, however, was burned down by an arsonist, and Webster was moved to a closed-down school, Tyler Elementary.

Public libraries

The Livonia Public Library includes the Civic Center Library, the Alfred Noble Library, the Carl Sandburg Library, and the Vest Pocket Library.[9]

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 36.0 square miles (93 km2), of which, 35.8 square miles (93 km2) of it is land and 0.2 square miles (0.52 km2) of it (0.33%) is water.

Politics

Livonia is located in Michigan's 11th congressional district, and is represented in Congress by Thaddeus McCotter (Republican), who was first elected to Congress in 2002. Livonia's mayor is Jack Kirksey. On November 6, 2007, Livonia's mayoral election took place between Jack Kirksey and Maureen Miller Brosnan, with Kirksey the winner.

Livonia is Michigan's 6th State Senate District, and is represented by Glenn S. Anderson (Democrat), who was elected to the State Legislature in 2006.

Livonia is Michigan's 19th State House District, and is represented by incumbent John R. Walsh (Republican), who is in his first term.

As of the U.S. Census of 2010, there were 96,942 people, 38,714 households, and 26,856 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,815.0 per square mile (1,086.8/km²). There were 38,658 housing units at an average density of 1,082.3 per square mile (417.9/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 91.97% White, 3.41% African American, 0.24% Native American, 2.54% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.4% from other races, and 1.42% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.47% of the population.

There were 38,089 households out of which 32.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.8% were married couples living together, 8.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.3% were non-families. 22.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.59 and the average family size was 3.07.

In the city the population was spread out with 23.8% under the age of 18, 6.3% was from 18 to 24, 28.7% was from 25 to 44, 24.3% was from 45 to 64, and 16.9% were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 94.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.8 males.

According to a 2010 American Community Survey, the median income for a household in the city was $65,391, and the median income for a family was $77,119. Males had a median income of $62,071 versus $42,083 for females. The per capita income for the city was $29,536. About 5.4% of families and 7.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.6% of those under age 18 and 3.8% of those age 65 or over.

Lettris is a curious tetris-clone game where all the bricks have the same square shape but different content. Each square carries a letter. To make squares disappear and save space for other squares you have to assemble English words (left, right, up, down) from the falling squares.

boggle

Boggle gives you 3 minutes to find as many words (3 letters or more) as you can in a grid of 16 letters. You can also try the grid of 16 letters. Letters must be adjacent and longer words score better. See if you can get into the grid Hall of Fame !

English dictionary Main references

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English thesaurus is mainly derived from The Integral Dictionary (TID).
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